UNDERSTANDING DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HIGH AND LOW CHILDHOOD ACCIDENT RATE AREAS - THE IMPORTANCE OF QUALITATIVE DATA

Background The research discussed in the paper was undertaken for a Di strict Health Authority to aid the development of appropriate policies to achieve the Health of the nation strategic target for reducing the death rate from accidents amongst children under 15. There has been a great deal of quantitative and epidemiological research into childhoo d accidents which has demonstrated a clear social class gradient in ch ildhood accidents, fatalities and injuries. Less research has been und ertaken into the possible reasons for the 'social patterning' of accid ents and other aspects of health. Recent sociological research on chil dhood accidents has adopted a more qualitative approach and studied ch ildhood safety within a family and community context. This approach ha s been used in the Huddersfield study on parental perspectives on chil dhood safety. Methods In-depth interviews were held with a sample of p arents from a high and a low childhood accident rate area. Results The two focus areas reveal contrasting social profiles. There were signif icant differences on a number of aspects of parental perceptions on sa fety and beliefs about accidents, in the two areas. Analysis of accide nt events revealed that all the families in the high childhood acciden t rate area sample had children who had had an accident in the past wh ich required hospital treatment. A high proportion of their children h ad experienced 'near misses'. In contrast, half the families in the lo w childhood accident rate area had children who had experienced an acc ident in the past and a much smaller proportion had experienced 'near misses'. All the patients in the sample from both areas developed rule s, routines and practices to keep their children safe. The study sugge sts that there are social class differences in the effective use of th ese safety rules. Conclusion Qualitatively orientated sociological res earch into parental perspectives on childhood safety contributes to an understanding of the reasons for the social patterning of childhood a ccidents. Such information should be of help to professionals in their prevention and safety promotion work.